


family—shinobu

by Harmonica_Smile (Rescue_Remedy)



Series: Women of One Piece Flash Fiction [3]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Complete, Don't know why the other names come before hers, Family, Flash Fic, Found Family, Gen, Kozuki Clan, Kurozumi Clan, Law and Kanjuro are mentioned, One piece chapter 975 spoilers, Shinobu doesn't have a tag yet, Shinobu is the main character of this, Wano Arc (One Piece) Spoilers, Wano Country (One Piece), Women! Wanted Zine, kunoichi - Freeform, oniwanbanshu
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-05-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:41:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24067507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rescue_Remedy/pseuds/Harmonica_Smile
Summary: Law said he wouldn't forgive. She'd insisted his traitor-comrades be eliminated. Kanjuro had defended him and Kanjuro was the turncoat. A member of her family, of Orochi's. But she knew, perhaps she knew. She hoped Law would forgive.Family. Was one more valid than the other? Shinobu thought so.
Relationships: Kozuki Oden & Shinobu (One Piece), Shinobu (One Piece) & Trafalgar D. Water Law
Series: Women of One Piece Flash Fiction [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1732228
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15
Collections: Women! Wanted Zine: Flash Fics





	family—shinobu

* * *

**shinobu-family**

* * *

They didn't come from a noble family, Oden's retainers, although they served one. Appointed themselves to serve it. When the ruling noble family became anything but, she quit and served the true family, the exiled and humiliated Kozuki clan, with a vengeance of loyalty. What's done to me I'll do to— _not_ mine, but—thine.

Law said he wouldn't forgive. She'd insisted his traitor-comrades be eliminated. Kanjuro had defended him and Kanjuro was the turncoat. A member of her family, of Orochi's. But she knew, perhaps she knew. She hoped Law would forgive.

Orochi and Izou and O-Kiku and Kanjuro all lost relatives and were persecuted because of them, then hunted down for choosing a new family over others. Bar Orochi.

Turns out Kanjuro was keen to die at any point. His clan name was his state of being.

The people of Wano, the wider kin, suffered. Oden sacrificed himself for them—the retainers—for them, the people, and they didn't know. A hundred lives saved every day as he danced over five years. 182,500 people.

Warriors have smuggled weapons past checkpoints and over borders for centuries, hidden in the skirts and hems of dresses; hammers cocked, triggers pulled, guns fired. Like past insurgents, Shinobu dispersed katana to the Scabbards and fought with her own. Sharp objects give her the chills now, but at the insurgency, the retaliation, the defence, her kunai knives silently pierced the throats of enemies. 

She chose the harder path. Couldn't choose any differently. Whether the road was strewn with fewer or more bodies was yet to be seen. But she served one family and was loyal to those who were loyal. To break the cycle means stepping outside the mould. Would Law forgive her? Kanjuro was the traitor.

Things grow fetid with time and lack of attention. Also fertile. In the last bloom plants push out one blossom after the other like shuriken flung across the room. Perhaps with precision.

Women are born with all the eggs they'll have in their lifetime, pockets of progeny given one chance after another.* Many fall by the wayside. Near the end, the cycle shortens. The need for permanence presses in.

Great acts of one's own, supporting others in the service of family, also usher in times for people to laugh without crying inside.

Family. Was one more valid than the other? She thought so.

**Author's Note:**

> *Just from [one quick article](https://www.growinggenerations.com/resources-for-egg-donors/are-you-born-with-all-of-your-eggs/) I read, some newer studies are saying that eggs might be produced throughout a woman's lifetime. That article is from a fertility clinic (google fu), but was quoting peer-referenced stuff. I wasn't going to research it too thoroughly for a flash fic (because of time restraints).
> 
> I bring all that up because of Shinobu's devil fruit, and am approaching it from a life-cycle point of view, rather than any stance of what role women should or shouldn't play in their lives.
> 
> Shinobu is really complicated, actually, and the Wano arc has intrigue within intrigue, and we're not done with her story yet, so we'll see how it unfolds.
> 
> But yeah, a major Oda theme is family and unjust persecution of families and groups, and how that persecution leads to further barbarity in many cases. I might have some canon facts above wrong. It wouldn't be the first time.
> 
> I don't know how coherent this one is. I hope it's come together.
> 
>  **Prompt** : Family
> 
>  **Word Limit** : 400
> 
>  **Thanks for reading**. All feedback is very much appreciated <3


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